


a woman of some importance

by Ada_L



Category: The Last Kingdom (TV)
Genre: Gen, season 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:06:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25541050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ada_L/pseuds/Ada_L
Summary: There are many firsts in her life Eadith does not care to remember.A short mid-season introspection piece.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	a woman of some importance

**Author's Note:**

> Written in an afternoon with no beta, so be warned. I took some liberties with canon and gave things my own spin.
> 
> I stumbled across TLK Fanfic Fest, and thought I'd try my hand at some Eadith/Finan firsts. And then I wrote this short piece without even getting close to fulfilling the prompt. I hope to continue this one but think it can stand alone.
> 
> I don't own anything - just for fun! If you'd like to leave your thoughts, I would appreciate it, but please be kind.

There are many firsts in her life Eadith does not care to remember.

The first time a powerful man had looked at her with undisguised want, when she was too young to desire a man in return and far too unaware what refusing a man’s advances could do to a girl whose family was already on the brink of ruin, about to lose their land and the only home she had ever known.

Nor does Eadith wish to remember the first time she gave herself to such a man. She had been desperate to protect what little they had left even when it meant surrendering her dignity and reputation, only to be cast aside, ruined despite her sacrifice.

Years later, when Eardwulf made plain the part she was to play in his scheme - how they were to earn redemption through service to the fickle Lord Aethelred - Eadith had understood for the first time that even to her own brother she was nothing more than a pawn, her beauty and her body intended to gain Aethelred’s favor.

The first time she laid eyes on Lord Aethelred, Eadith had recognized his vanity and recklessness, his selfishness and cruelty, and known he was a man accustomed to taking whatever pleasure he desired. She had looked upon him and resigned herself to the role she would play in his life and, no matter how long she may delay, in his bed.

When Eardwulf’s treacherous refusal to tell Lord Aethelred of the Danes’ intrusion into Mercia had sentenced hundreds of his countrymen to death as the unwitting victims of his own ambition, Eadith had given herself to Lord Aethelred for the first time.

For Eardwulf, no matter how unworthy, was all the family that remained for Eadith in this world.

Aethelred was in every way the rough and uncaring lover she had expected. When he was finally finished with her, Eadith had felt a sharp stab of sympathy for the Lady Aethelflaed, her life and happiness tied to a lord so ill-suited to being an honorable husband.

After, when Aethelred and Eardwulf have left for Tettenhall, Eadith lies in bed, refusing to dwell on her misfortune.

She cannot change her fate, so as she always has, Eadith waits, and Eadith endures.

******

Keeping vigil at Lord Aethelred’s bedside as he lingers near death is an unusual sort of tedium. Aethelred is wounded far beyond what any man can survive, yet Eadith is forced by his command to remain as witness to his suffering.

In his brief moments of lucidity, Aethelred offers the fumbling apologies of a man resigned to the inevitable reckoning with his God. Eadith knows there is nothing to be gained from acknowledging her pain, and she does not intend to grant him pardon, so she keeps silent.

When the Lady Aethelflaed does return to Aylesbury, Eadith is both relieved by the prospect of her dismissal and chastened by finding herself in the company of Lord Aethelred’s wife.

“He asked that I remain,” she tells the lady, her cheeks flushing as Aethelflaed regards her with disdain. It is not hidden that Lord Aethelred and the lady did not share a marital bed, but she understands it cannot be pleasant to have Aethelred’s unfaithfulness displayed for all to witness.

“Yes, he would,” Lady Aethelflaed responds, her tone sharp enough to cut glass. She looks upon her husband with an expression Eadith cannot interpret other than to say what it is not, for it is not the despair of a loving wife soon to become a grieving widow. “Nevertheless, you may take your leave.”

“Lady.” Eadith bites her lip and refuses to look down as she moves toward the door, but something stops her before she reaches the threshold. “I am sorry, Lady,” she says. “Truly.”

She is sorry, and for much - that Aethelflaed has spent so many years tied to a man as cruel as Aethelred, that Eadith’s humiliation has only added to Aethelflaed’s own, and that Aethelred’s death, just as his life, will bring Lady Aethelflaed little but misery as she strains to hold Wessex and Mercia together with both her hands.

Aethelflaed’s shoulders drop, but she does not turn to face Eadith. “You need not return,” she says. “My husband is beyond any... _comfort_ you would provide.”

Eadith’s eyes prick with unbidden tears as she hurries from the chamber.

******

Despite Aethelflaed’s admonition, Eadith’s feet carry her toward Lord Aethelred the next evening. Her intentions for returning are unclear even in her own mind - perhaps she does feel some small measure of pity for Aethelred as as he suffers another day in pain and on the brink of death.

Instead, she watches in silent horror as the full depth of Eardwulf’s own cruelty and avarice is revealed. She wants to scream, to cry, to flee, but she is rooted to the spot as Eardwulf strangles his dying lord and pilfers from his lifeless body without a shred of remorse.

She finally stumbles away from the door, her desperation to escape unseen warring with the sudden and full accounting of her sins, their weight multiplying until she can barely stand.

“Forgive me,” she gasps aloud, bracing herself with an unsteady arm as she enters her own chamber. She does not know if she deserves any measure of forgiveness - she is uncertain if the God she prays to will even be swayed by her anguish - but she prays as she has not in years.

For Eadith’s complicity, no matter her intention, has furthered the twisted ambition of a murderer, a madman bereft of all decency and honor. Eardwulf’s betrayal of Mercia is absolute. He is beyond hope of redemption, and Eadith’s guilt for the part she has played in his game settles into her soul, a deep well of sorrow and despair.

Finally, Eadith takes a deep breath and stands. She has spent many years enduring punishment she did not deserve, and she will endure this pain as she has all the rest.

******

The cause of Eardwulf’s fury is soon revealed to her - Edward intends to betroth Aelfwynn to her monstrous brother. Given their disgrace, Eadith knows it is a match Aethelred would have opposed with his dying breaths. Lady Aethelflaed fights the betrothal with equal fervor and at her brother’s order is sentenced to confinement.

A feeling of outrage, long dormant, stirs in Eadith’s chest. Aelfwynn has done nothing to deserve the fate thrust upon her by powerful men who care not at all for her safety or her happiness. Like her mother, like Eadith, like women the world over, Aelfwynn has been reduced to a bargaining piece. Her future will be sacrificed on the altar of alliance and stability, and Eadith intends to remain complicit no longer.

“We must speak,” she tells a startled Aldhelm, pulling him from the crowded hall and away from prying eyes. He looks her over, suspicion mingling with curiosity, and Eadith breathes a sigh of relief when he does not dismiss her outright. “Please, Aldhelm. We must free the Lady Aethelflaed.”

Aldhelm’s face changes from misgiving to hope at her words, and Eadith resolves to be worthy of this moment and all those that come next.

******

“What reason could I have to trust your word?” Although she is clearly anxious to escape her confinement, Lady Aethelflaed is no fool. She is wary of her husband’s mistress, and it stings even as Eadith accepts it as her due.

“My brother cannot be allowed to marry your daughter,” Eadith says. “He will bring nothing but chaos and ruin to Mercia.” She crosses the room and throws open the window to where Aldhelm waits below. “Please, lady.”

Lady Aethelflaed studies her for a long moment, and Eadith wills every note of sincerity into her voice as she pleads for trust. “Lady, you must believe me, for I love Mercia as you do. My brother cannot be allowed to rule. For your daughter’s sake, you must go.”

She does not know which of her words convinces the lady of her honesty, but soon Lady Aethelflaed has entrusted her with a message for Lord Uhtred and disappeared with Aldhelm into the night.

Once she has gone, Eadith takes a shuddering breath, followed by another and another and another. She allows herself a long moment of grief for the life she could have lived, for the life she deserved, and steels herself for an uncertain future.

Despite the lady Aethelflaed’s promise of security, Eadith remains the disgraced sister of a murderer. She is a fugitive, a traitor, a whore.

She is Eadith of Mercia, and she will survive.

******

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed - please excuse any errors.


End file.
